It was on quite a good way to achievement. The OTL plans envisioned for a 1 km/day work pace over 6 years, but I imagine a good organization could double the pace, so that wartime expansion gets this quickly done, well within the first year of the war.
Of Rajahs and Hornbills: A timeline of Brooke Sarawak
- Thread starter Al-numbers
- Start date
I just thought that if the railway construction goes, there may be a possibility that the railroad building crews stumble upon Saharan oil while drilling water wells for the train.
It could add further interest to develop the railway and invest resources in this theater.
It could add further interest to develop the railway and invest resources in this theater.
1905: The Great War (part 2/?) : Germany's queer dilemma
Charlie MacDonald, Strange States, Weird Wars, and Bizzare Borders, (weirdworld.postr.com, 2014)
…I think that if someone made a graphic of how much interest academics have on the progress of the Great War, the months of July to September 1905 would stick out like an explosion in a grain field. The fact that the German Empire suffered a military scandal, a royal death, and political pressure all without jumping into war speaks to the unseen fluidity of pubic perception, while also laying bare how low would nations, and people, go.
But I’m going to break with most dunderheads and begin this topic from an angle that most people are uncomfortable with: The Unger Accusations, and what it meant for Wilhelm and his beloved army.
And to do that, let’s make one thing clear: The Kaiser. Wasn’t. Gay.
Wilhelm liked men. He enjoyed men. Heck, he thought his military service was the best thing that ever happened in his youth! But all in all, he preferred their company and friendship instead of boning them behind closed doors, like what so many conspiracy nuts believe nowadays. However, he was aware that there were gay and effeminate men serving the empire beside him, and by all accounts and from his own words, he was pretty okay or “meh” about it all, which is far more that can be said for him than for some others during the period. [1] Of course, there could be the chance that the Kaiser was bisexual but that’s not the point here!
Here’s the main issue: when journalist Matthäus Unger made the list of military brass, NCO’s, political figures, and German princes that he thought were homosexual in June 1905, it was done with the intent of helping the Kaiser [2]. A pro-monarchist, Unger saw the coming rainstorm of the Great War earlier than most and believed that Germany may be better served if ‘effeminate’ men were to be discharged from positions of power. And before you all scream about him, his view of gay men was actually pretty consistent with what most ignorant Germans believed of the community at that time. He wasn’t even disgustingly homophobic to the point of some of the groups that emerged later on. He simply thought that the monarchy and the army would be better run if effeminate men were replaced with what he called, “more capable figures”. [3]
However, Unger didn’t know that the Kaiser did not care for his views or for his list whatsoever. Unfortunately, the public did. What many casual historians (and many normal folk) forget about 1905 Germany was that public hysteria reached a fever pitch during that summer. No matter where and no matter what, the Great War was on all minds. Support for Austria-Hungary was everywhere in Germany: rallies and donation drives were hosted in every major city, the windowsills of many neighbourhoods were draped in Austro-Hungarian flags, and every family would discuss of their neighbour down the street who ran off to volunteer in Galicia, or Tyrol. German patriotism was high, and so was adulation of German culture and German customs. Everyone thought the German government would ask for war, and everyone thought the Kaiser would allow it.
Unger wanted to post his list to the military brass in Berlin, but was denied. However, a copy of it slipped from his hands and ended up in the house of Berlin’s leading broadsheet newspaper in late July. War fervour was high. The public wanted a fight. And the rest… well… was history.
Well, not quite. While Unger was caught flat-footed at the document’s publishing, he quickly saw it as a way to weaponize popular opinion and call for the removal of various officials for, as he called it, “the weakening of our military and the indolence of our government”. The German government answered by arresting him. The public responded by swarming the prison. During his trial, he was acquitted, and though he would be later arrested that fall for inciting mob violence, the summer of 1905 would be Matthäus Unger’s to take. His imprisonment also stoked the more homophobic parts of society, and they named names that weren’t on Unger’s list, from the lowest conscripts to the highest of the General Staff. Calling them weak, effeminate, even… un-German.
I’ll not talk about the public reaction to them. I’ll not talk of the hysteria, fueled by the reports of battles and spies caught across the border. I’m not digging deeper into the mob beatings and the witch-hunts. I’m not going to talk about the 10 NCO’s who hanged themselves in their barracks. Or the head of the Munich Inspectorate who shot himself in his room. I’ll not talk about the pictures, or the letters, and the way homophobic groups used them in their campaigns. I’m not talking about Cäsar Henze, or Oliver Künstler, or Sandro Krehl, or the many other heterosexual soldiers whom were misblamed and saw their brothers-in-arms turn against them and made their lives hell, and ultimately to the grave. I will not talk about that, for their memories shouldn’t be defined by the vile ways society treated them. Just typing this paragraph made me feel like vomiting.
A cartoon drawn during the Ungern Accusations, portraying the Prussian coat of arms fronted by two effeminate and out-of-shape figures, signifying the decay of Prussian society by homosexuals.[4]
And the thing is, it could’ve been worse. The depth of German reaction during that summer is documented to hell and back, but not many realized that French and Russian nationals also kept the ears on the latest in Berlin gossip, and it was from this that we get perhaps the most disgusting act of subterfuge France and Russia had for the German Empire: the Leclair Plot. Planned by the French ambassador to Russia, it would involve French and Russian agents intentionally planting false information to bring down the German military command and disrupt the army. And the false info? Homosexuality. As Paul Leclair* himself stated in a letter to his ministry in Paris: “For this war to be won, the circus of Berlin must not end.”
Thankfully, the plan was not carried through.
Also, a tangent: False rumours weren’t the only thing talked amongst the German people. In mid-August, a Russian spying operation was uncovered in Vienna, yet the information they collected managed to be sent abroad before they were captured. Ten days later, newspapers containing damning passages were circulated across the Galician Front. How damning? For a start, Crown Prince Rudolf said of the Kaiser as “a demented dog,” while Franz Ferdinand retorted how Wilhelm “…has the mind of an ox crossed with a howling swine.” I won’t post Franz Joseph’s legendary passage, but suffice to say, it was damning. The Habsburgs were never really warm with Wilhelm II, seeing his bellicose ways as destabilizing and reckless, but they always made sure their disdain were vented behind closed doors and in secret letters. Now, it was out.
The reactions to this are manifold, but we’re sticking with Wilhelm, and how all of this reached into his innermost circle. The Habsburg comments were originally dismissed as slander, which is until Crown Prince Rudolph made an appeal to the Vojvodinan Serbs in late August and made a faux-pas, saying “if you seek my honesty, look to the Galician papers.” While the rest of the family apologized, it was the first time Wilhelm discovered how much his imperial German neighbours actually thought of him. It planted a seed in his mind, and it never really left.
Closer to home, the names implicated by Unger didn’t just went up to the Imperial Military Cabinet, but also to his closest and dearest. Not just that, but some of the men charged were those that the Kaiser didn’t like much, but respected deeply for their long service to Germany, such as Kuno von Moltke. As the General of Infantry, he would have been the last person to be convicted of homosexuality. Yet, the rumours that he dressed in tutus and danced to the pleasure of other men (a practice that Wilhelm did force upon some officers, which amplified gossip when it came out [5]) were implacable. Despite all the royal protection of the Kaiser and the power of the libel and defamation laws, there was nothing he could do to stop Moltke from being dragged through the mud and into court, hounded all the while by his own wife who accused him of being sexually cold to her. [6]
And let’s think about all of this for a moment. Imagine you are the emperor of Germany. Your nation is at a pivotal moment in history. Your military might could be an unquestioned one if the right decisions are made. But then… comes a man stating names and things that struck very close to home. Your friends suddenly become suspect, and you hear howls in the streets as fellow Germans bayed for blood or removal. You see your army, your beloved army whom you saw as a second home, starts to murder and hound itself. You hear men being beaten, and officers hanging themselves or putting pistols to their skulls. Your appointed inner circle comes under trial. And lastly, you found out – and begin to believe despite their assurances – that the very allies whom you want to help really think of you as a bully. Worse, a dangerous bully.
Oh, and your eldest son is dying through it all, and not just dying peacefully, but from the worst of diseases. After influenza, cholera, and dysentery, tuberculosis was one of the deadliest diseases in the Western World during the 19th and early 20th centuries, ravaging healthy men and women without mercy. The infected would suffer for months before finally passing on, and the potential for airborne spread through coughing and touch was so high that hotels and restaurants would kick potential patients out into the streets. There was no scientific cure. Despite the extreme measures set up at Potsdam for the Crown Prince, Wilhelm himself remarked that, “death is close to everyone here.” Indeed, many aides during the summer noted how the bellicose Kaiser could be silenced “just by mentioning consumption”, as one said it.
And the final blow was yet to come. In early September, while the imperial family was in mourning, a new name was mentioned for accusation; someone at the very heart of the Hohenzollern family: Wilhelm Eitel Friedrich, the Kaiser’s second son and (now) heir. [7]
A French propaganda postcard of Crown Prince Eitel Friedrich, with womanly hips and a large arse. The caption below reads "One of the ways of getting volunteers into Eitel Fritz’s regiment."
You can imagine how he reacted.
Germany couldn’t go to war while everyone else did. Not in this state.
It took months to weed out the rumours. Months to clear out all the trials and courts. Months to reappoint or replace the men whom were removed from their positions, willingly and otherwise. Months to drum up and implement new codes, laws, and policies to wind down the summer hysteria. Months to repair back the image of the monarchy and the army. Eventually, the vomit of public disgust sputtered down, and the hysteria was over by early October. The meatgrinder of the Galician front – where over 200,000 Russian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers perished just for Lemberg – put some cold water on the patriotic fervor, and the bloodbath that was sweeping Crete upturned the stomachs of even those who thought effeminate men were disgusting.
And all the while, there was Wilhelm, trying to keep it all together. Many observers noted that the Kaiser became less bellicose as the autumn came into being. He was still reactionary, but there was less loudmouthing in the halls of Potsdam, less of the wrangling and irritability that had once characterized the man. His closest aides all noted of him being more methodical and calm, though still impatient. Even his wife noted that her husband became “more interested in maps and diagrams of the war around around the world, than for affairs close to home. ”
Perhaps the death of his son and heir affected the man. Perhaps the Accusations went a little too close to home for a Kaiser who enjoyed male company and adored the army. Perhaps it was the knowledge that said army could be toppled not by guns but with the flash mob. Perhaps it was the truth that the Habsburgs held him in contempt; the recently declassified documents from Vienna explicitly stated that the family finally told the honest truth to Wilhelm after he demanded it in October (which is kinda gutsy, considering how Wilhelm could’ve easily took the disdain to waging war against them). Perhaps it was all of the above, or perhaps it was none of those at all.
We don’t know. We may never know. The biggest problem with all these guesses is that we don’t have the wartime documents and journals of Wilhelm in the public domain. It is frustrating that after this long since the Great War, the Hohenzollerns are still keeping his wartime papers private! The family is hiding something, and perhaps the wartime enigma of Wilhelm II remains too sensitive to be revealed to the world. We can only guess. There was definitely no more officer-tutu parties afterwards, that’s for sure.
The Great War saw suffering and death on an untold scale, but there was one group that truly suffered in this period: the German gay community. These were men whom believed in their government and in their country, and sought to showcase that by joining the colours in defence of their homeland. But instead of being honoured for their service, they were spat on, beaten, and sometimes forced to take the final way out. The army was no longer a safe place to hide for them, and the hysteria of 1905 set back sexual progress in Germany for at least a generation.
A few years back, some of Kaiser Wilhelm’s post-war journals were released to the public. On one page in September 1912, he remarked, “I sometimes wonder of the people whom we lost in 1905. Not the ones in the battles, but the men and boys whom served with us with their utmost pride, and paid the most unfair of dues in recompense, by our own society…”
____________________
Notes:
:: *Why yes, that is a man whom some of you have seen in another timeline.
1. IOTL, there is a lot of discussion regarding Wilhelm’s fondness towards men, and there is a consensus that he must have known about homosexuality among his inner circle and in the army, especially since some of his friends were not discreet about their likings (looking at you, Eulenberg). ITTL, the Kaiser is a somewhat different person (his birth was normal, saving the world the worst of his erratic bellicosity) yet he is brought up to be a reactionary conservative by his tutors, and shares some of his OTL self’s militaristic views.
2. Matthäus Unger is an ITTL character, though he is based – in some levels – on the OTL journalist Maximilian Harden. Unger shares Harden’s early views towards the monarchy and sees the Kaiser more as an emperor surrounded by manipulative people, instead of Wilhelm possessing poor judgement and low merits in his own right. However, Unger is less sympathetic to homosexuality in general, whereas Harden was stated to personally favour decriminalization. Not that that stopped him from using it as a political weapon.
3. Those who are keen-eyed can already guess that this whole situation is an alternate Harden-Eulenberg Affair, which is an OTL scandal that rocked the German Empire in 1908 and saw the dismissal and court-martial of several armed officers from Wilhelm’s inner circle, with a few even going on trial.
4. The cartoon of the Prussian coat of arms also came from the time of the OTL affair.
5. Oh yes, Wilhelm really did force officers to dance in women’s clothing and in tutus IOTL, though he was also partly influenced into doing so by some of his partners in his inner circle (looking at you again, Eulenberg).
6. This was OTL. Kuno’s former wife of nine years, Lilly von Elbe, disparaged of him during trial, stating that their marriage was only consummated on their first and second nights and feeling sexually unfulfilled. She even claimed to have attacked her husband, only for him to defend himself and not strike back, which many Germans thought was proof his “effeminate” ways.
7. Though he was married with children, Prince Ethel Friedrich was rumoured to be gay during the time IOTL. And yes, the postcard really did exist and was a propaganda depiction of him being effeminate by the French during WWI.
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@Al-numbers
There's a couple times in this post where you mention the OTL figure of Harden when you presumably mean Unger. I'm guessing this is a mistake.
There's a couple times in this post where you mention the OTL figure of Harden when you presumably mean Unger. I'm guessing this is a mistake.
Ephraim Ben Raphael
Banned
A Pink Scare in Germany. I'm surprised more hasn't been done with this kind of idea before.
If I can remember rightly, "Potsdam Sickness" was used by some as a euphemism for homosexuality, in reference to the possible orientation of Frederick the Great. A particularly homophobic pro-Hapsburg could argue that homosexuality is in the proverbial DNA of any Hohenzollern-unified Germany.
I would suppose that these scandals will result in a harsher persecution of homosexuality in German society as a whole as is implied which is unfortunate.
Wow, such tragedy and not even as part of the war.
Sounds like Germany will join the Habsburgs after all.
Sounds like Germany will join the Habsburgs after all.
Ah, my mistake. Thanks for noticing!
The idea that a nation could be brought down by hysteria isn't a particularly comfy topic to explore, especially when it concerns something as personal as individual sexuality, and much less nations that are ruled by the explicit use of power and law. But as with the Harden-Eulenberg affair or the 2011 England riots, conditions and circumstances could affect the general public in ways that are inconceivable just a few years beforehand. In Germany's case, the descent of the world into war paired with high jingoism and an eagerness to define German pride brought out the worst in society, if for a short while.
Right on. Notions of the Hohenzollern family being homosexual has been on the lips of Europe ever since Frederick the Great, and the later Prussian monarchs didn't help this with their love of the army and male companionship. Male prostitution during the era was even called "the German vice" in neighbouring countries.
This is the ultimate effect of the Ungern Accusations in the long-term, though the Great War itself will have some effect on the gay community and how they are perceived in the wider world. For the most part, the hysteria of 1905 will push German (in Germany) social culture into a forced conservatism, lasting long after the end of the conflict. A "don't ask, don't tell" policy might even be promulgated as a way of keeping future gay men from serving in the army. For the German gay community, the summer will be seen as a black mark in their collective history, and truly indicates the period when Germany entered the 20th century.
The jury is still out on that. The German government and monarchy are receptive to supporting Austria-Hungary, but maybe not now, and not in the way most people think. Besides that, the Accusations and their effects have planted a few ideas in the diplomats of Paris and St. Petersburg into keeping Germany out of the war. The ideas may not work, but they are worth trying.
And now with all this done, it's time to return back to Southeast Asia!
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The general problem it's that Austria-Hungary will not last that much without a direct German intervention...and even if Berlin decide to enter the war they will face a much more difficult task than OTL.
The K.u.K it's in a worse position, reform wise, than OTL and it's facing a three front war, even 'better' the OTL advantage they have on the italian front, aka the very defensive favorable terrain, will probably not exist ITTL as not only Italy own Dalmatia but Regia Marina seem strong enough to launch a landing operation with the objective to bypass the Isonzo defense; basically the Austrian armed forces can't fight for long under this pressure expecially with the current military leaderships.
Ottoman european territory are in practice lost, with the Bulgarians in open rebellion the logistic train has been wrecked and the Greeks-Italian-French forces attacking at the same time from east and south and with Germany neutral and the Austrian-Ottoman apparently on the rope there is also Romania that will desire part of the spoil.
Germany it's on a worse position than OTL, not only the 'pink scare' had caused a lot of officers to leave the army (and sometime this world) but i expect that the morale of the armed forces will be greatly affected by this meaning that they will be a lot less efficient than OTL. Not only that, but in France the 'purge' of the defensive minded officer by Joffre it's not happened and the cult of the offensive at any cost had not engulfed the entire French military leaderships
The K.u.K it's in a worse position, reform wise, than OTL and it's facing a three front war, even 'better' the OTL advantage they have on the italian front, aka the very defensive favorable terrain, will probably not exist ITTL as not only Italy own Dalmatia but Regia Marina seem strong enough to launch a landing operation with the objective to bypass the Isonzo defense; basically the Austrian armed forces can't fight for long under this pressure expecially with the current military leaderships.
Ottoman european territory are in practice lost, with the Bulgarians in open rebellion the logistic train has been wrecked and the Greeks-Italian-French forces attacking at the same time from east and south and with Germany neutral and the Austrian-Ottoman apparently on the rope there is also Romania that will desire part of the spoil.
Germany it's on a worse position than OTL, not only the 'pink scare' had caused a lot of officers to leave the army (and sometime this world) but i expect that the morale of the armed forces will be greatly affected by this meaning that they will be a lot less efficient than OTL. Not only that, but in France the 'purge' of the defensive minded officer by Joffre it's not happened and the cult of the offensive at any cost had not engulfed the entire French military leaderships
On another side, the neutrality of Germany forces France to keep an important number of divisions immobilized on the German border to avoid a nasty surprise, though on a brighter note, if Germany becomes a co-belligerent if not an ally of the British, the Belgium option would be out of question, keeping the frontlines along a short line parallel to the border on an established defensive network on both sides (no offensive friendly ground as in Belgium).
Italy has surely great advantage and a superior military in terms of equipment, but as it comes down to officers corp, if the likes of Cadorna still lead ITTL, I wouldn't bet on a decisive performance, unless the French are given command on this front (along with their expeditionary corps here), which I doubt.
Actually, I would worry more about Russians crossing into Hungary through the Carpathian passes, considering that even with Germany to deal with, the Russians came dangerously close to doing this IOTL. I think that without Germany to step in, Russians would probably cross into Hungary within a year at most.
Italy has surely great advantage and a superior military in terms of equipment, but as it comes down to officers corp, if the likes of Cadorna still lead ITTL, I wouldn't bet on a decisive performance, unless the French are given command on this front (along with their expeditionary corps here), which I doubt.
Actually, I would worry more about Russians crossing into Hungary through the Carpathian passes, considering that even with Germany to deal with, the Russians came dangerously close to doing this IOTL. I think that without Germany to step in, Russians would probably cross into Hungary within a year at most.
Wait, so the Kaiser demanded the Hapsburgs tell him what they really think of him and they actually did it?
If he did not fly off the handle at that, he certainly will if information pertaining to France throwing oil onto the fire and slandering his second son the very year his eldest dies as an immediate reason for a declaration of war.
I would not count a Belgian strategy out of the question. With Germany entering the imperial side, Britain may well pressure Belgium to simply let the German soldiers pass through a clearly defined area in an orderly fashion, especially if they think this will catch France off guard.
If he did not fly off the handle at that, he certainly will if information pertaining to France throwing oil onto the fire and slandering his second son the very year his eldest dies as an immediate reason for a declaration of war.
I would not count a Belgian strategy out of the question. With Germany entering the imperial side, Britain may well pressure Belgium to simply let the German soldiers pass through a clearly defined area in an orderly fashion, especially if they think this will catch France off guard.
I won’t reveal just how Austria-Hungary shall fare in the following year, but there will be a time when things will look incredibly bleak for the empire of the Danube. With a half-reformed army and enemies all around, the dual governments will be screaming for foreign intervention (preferably German), and if not, for supplies and volunteers, for anything. Or anyone.
Yes and no. While Italy is giving them a very rough tumbling in Albania and Bosnia, Serbia and Greece have the combination of comparatively inferior armies – among other things, the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 hasn’t happened, hiding the deficiencies in Greek army planning till now – and multiple fronts to watch over. Crete in particular is going to be a nightmare for all belligerents, what with the terrain, minorities, and history of communal violence.
Though with that said, you are right in that the Rumelian logistical system is shot and the Bulgarians are essentially running amok across the countryside from Bitola to Sofia. The Greeks and Serbs would also try and link up with their co-ethnic partisans across the border, which are countered by Muslim and Jewish groups and bandits whom are also roaming around and raising hell. A siege of Sarajevo could even happen. This is (among many) one of the big reasons why the phrase “a Rumelian front” shall be known in a future as a phrase for “a confusing fustercluck.”
As for Romania… you’ll see.
The French high command is more interested in keeping the Med and battling North Africa, though I can see a few generals and corps be brought to the Adriatic to oversee the war front. I’m not familiar with the Italian armed forces, though I expect their performance to be a few notches somewhat above OTL, because of their experience in dealing with colonial conflicts (Ethiopia notwithstanding). Of course, tribal uprisings are a waaaay different kettle of fish than industrial war, but they would know a thing or two more than OTL.
The replacement and reconditioning of the German military will take up some time, but it wouldn’t be absurdly stretched out; capable “proper” men can be pulled out from amongst the ranks (experience is another matter, though) and the situation across Europe would set the need for Berlin to be eternally vigilant against outside foes. And galileo has a point in that France shall always have several divisions near the border as a guarantee against surprise wars.
Hmm… this really depends on how – or what – both alliances could appeal for Belgium, and how Belgium itself will respond. Given their position, I can see the state closing off its borders to both sides to avoid a conflict on its own soil; the Dutch made their open neutrality policy partially because of colonial interests, which Brussels doesn’t have ITTL. To even consider opening their borders would require a good amount of closed-door wrangling. Of course, France and Germany could just run over the country, but that would make Britain really mad.
I soooo wanna make France, Germany or even Britain appealing to the Belgian king by offering him his own colony, but that’s just copying Malê Rising, and I don’t want to be too much of a copycat.
The thought was planted in Wilhelm’s mind ever since crown prince Rudolf made his faux-pas back in late August, and it never really left him. As the weeks passed, the thought grew and grew inside his head, and he eventually demanded the whole truth to Vienna once October came around. The Habsburgs wanted to lie, but Wilhelm already instructed some private men to sift through the gossip and the Russian spying operation, and counterclaimed aggressively. In the end, the family decided to come clean rather than drag out the spat to who-knows-what. They also needed the German supplies.
As for Wilhelm’s reaction… his wartime journals are still kept private ITTL, and there are many factors indicating how public and governmental concerns outweighed whatever familial spats the Kaiser had towards the Habsburgs. With that said, there are a few conspiracy theories suggesting that their answers were one reason (among the obvious) why Wilhelm didn’t declare war for Austria-Hungary that October.
As for the French postcard of his son… I didn’t say exactly when did they printed that.
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Okay, I’m in a bit of a bind, everybody. I want to dive into the battles between the Brookes, their Dayak auxiliaries, and their adversaries across Italian Borneo, as well as how Sarawak contributes to the larger British war effort. But I also feel that some context would be lost if I don’t write an instalment overviewing the country and its regions, resources, and armed forces first. The Great War is going to change a lot about Sarawak, and it’d be easier for us all to understand if we get some context first.
So it’s either an update about the war in Sarawak, or an update describing Sarawak’s resources, peoples, and capabilities first. Which ones do you all want to see?
EDIT: now with poll attached!
So it’s either an update about the war in Sarawak, or an update describing Sarawak’s resources, peoples, and capabilities first. Which ones do you all want to see?
EDIT: now with poll attached!
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I would love to hear about this. How in depth would you be willing to go? I personally could listen to all the various Dayak tribes and their various contributions. I especially would like to also hear about Sarawak Rangers; who makes up the racial composition, how well they're trained, the Brooke boys' logistics etc. Go for second.
I'm thinking of dividing the update into two parts:
1) An overview of the whole country in 1905, divided by regions, where I'll hop from place to place to describe the people, resources, and recent history of a particular region. I'm thinking maybe 3 to 5 paragraphs for each region.
2) A description of Sarawak's auxiliaries, naval forces (blue and brown-water), and the Rangers during the eve of the war. This includes recruitment, weapons, and maybe some traditional tactics.
With these two parts, a lot of context will be added to the conflict between the Brookes and the wider world. We can also trace how shall the kingdom evolve socially and commercially throughout the war era.
Blue as in deep water? I wasn't aware they had more than an impressive river navy. I guess that's why we need the update.
Well, "impressive" is a bit of an overstatement, given that a lot of Sarawakian gunboats are brought second-hand from the Royal Navy (a necessity when dealing with a limited budget), but the state has a small number ocean-worthy ships at hand, headed by British captains over local crews. This goes all the way back to the kingdom's earliest days when James Brooke sailed to Sarawak on his own schooner.
Right right, the Brookes built their nation on fighting pirates after all. I was thinking of Ironclads though. I wasn't aware they may have had a secondhand navy of them. I figured all the second-hand vessels they possessed were things to beef up river defense.
I think in general, I've always liked descriptions of societies the most in these TLs. It must be the sociologist in me, that loves reading descriptions of how different societies react to one another, which is what really draws me to this TL. Can't wait for the next chapter.